The present invention relates to an electric cleaning device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electric cleaning device equipped with a floor suction tool having a rotating brush.
In standard electric cleaning devices (floor-moving cleaning devices), a floor suction tool is formed with a wide suction opening on the bottom surface thereof. A rotating brush holding chamber holds a rotating brush that extends to the suction opening. A suction opening to the main cleaning device unit is formed at the center of the rear wall of the rotating brush holding chamber. When cleaning carpets and the like, dust picked up by the rotating brush from the carpet surface is sucked in from the suction opening formed at the center to the main unit.
In xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d cleaning devices, the suction tool is larger than the floor suction tools used in standard electric cleaning devices described above. In order to reduce uneven cleaning, the wide suction opening on the bottom surface spans as close to the entire width of the suction tool as possible. In the United States and England, where upright cleaning devices are often used, carpets are relatively plush. Thus, the rotating brush used in upright cleaning devices is formed with a large diameter so that dust and the like that is deep in carpets can be picked up efficiently. As a result, the longitudinal dimension of the suction opening is also large.
Furthermore, in floor suction tools for upright vacuum devices, the main unit of the vacuum device is positioned at the center of the suction tool. Thus, the suction opening from the rotating brush holding chamber to the main unit of the vacuum device must be positioned to either the left or the right.
As described above, the suction openings in upright vacuum devices is larger than the suction devices of the floor suction tools in standard electric vacuum devices. Thus, increasing the degree of vacuum is difficult and the suction air speed is lower, thus making suctioning of dust difficult.
Suction currents entering the suction opening are generated in the rotating brush chamber. The rotation of the rotating brush generates circulating air currents between the brush and the walls of the rotating brush holding chamber. However, as described above, the degree of vacuum and suction air speed is low in upright cleaning devices. This causes dust picked up by the rotating brush to be caught by the circulating air currents generated by the rotating brush rather than being sucked into the suction opening, resulting in the dust being returned to the surface being cleaned (the carpet surface). This leaves residue and decreases the efficiency at which dust is sucked in.
Also, since the suction opening extending from the rotating brush holding chamber to the main unit of the cleaning device is to one side, the suction force at the other side is reduced, resulting in greater residue at the other side.
In order to overcome these problems, U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,653 provides a groove cavity extending longitudinally along the inner upper wall of the rotating brush holding chamber.
However, a gap remains between the rotating brush and the inner upper wall of the rotating brush holding chamber. This allows the dust picked up away from the suction opening to still be caught in the circulating air currents generated by the rotating brush and returned to the surface being cleaned, resulting in residue. Furthermore, forming a groove cavity on the inner upper wall of the rotating brush holding chamber also means forming a projection on the outer surface. This results in a cosmetic problem unless a two-layer structure or the like is used for the upper wall of the rotating brush holding chamber.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the problems described above and to provide an electric cleaning device that allows dust caught up by a rotating brush to be efficiently sucked into a suction opening extending to a main unit without resulting in cosmetic problems.
Another object of the present invention is to allow dust to be easily sucked in even if the dust is picked up at a position away from the suction opening.
In order to achieve the objects described above, the present invention provides an electric cleaning device including a floor suction tool wherein a long suction opening is formed on a bottom surface, a rotating brush holding chamber holds a rotating brush extending to the suction opening, and a suction opening leading to a main cleaning device unit is formed on a rear wall of the rotating brush holding chamber. A rib is extended along the length of the rotating brush in the rotating brush holding chamber, the rib being proximal to a rotation path of the rotating brush. An air current path is formed to take dust drawn up by the rotating brush and stopped by the rib and suck the dust into the suction opening leading to the main cleaning device unit.
The present invention also provides an electric cleaning device including a floor suction tool wherein a long suction opening is formed on a bottom surface, a rotating brush holding chamber holds a rotating brush extending to the suction opening, and a suction opening leading to a main cleaning device unit is formed toward one end of a rear wall of the rotating brush holding chamber. A rib extends along the length of the rotating brush in the rotating brush holding chamber, the rib being proximal to a rotation path of the rotating brush. An air current path is formed to take dust drawn up by the rotating brush and stopped by the rib and suck the dust into the suction opening leading to the main cleaning device unit.
Furthermore, the present invention also provides a rib or partition disposed at an angle so that a cross-section area of the air current path formed by the rib is larger closer to the suction opening and smaller further from the suction opening.
The present invention also provides an opening formed toward an end away from the suction opening leading to the main cleaning device unit, the opening letting air from the outside into the air current path.
The present invention also provides an opening formed toward an end away from the suction opening leading to the main cleaning device unit, the opening letting exhaust air from the main cleaning device unit into the air current path.
The present invention also provides a rib divided into a plurality of sections. Portions of adjacent rib sections are disposed in an overlapping manner to form an inflow path to the air current path.
The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate the same elements.